Chapter 11 The Magical Use of the Code
In the court, Chang'an County Magistrate Pei Zhe's head was about to explode.
A murder occurred in the jurisdiction, which is no small matter.
If it was an ordinary murder case, it would be fine, but the victim this time was a famous wealthy businessman in Chang'an. Not only did he have a very high status in the business world, he also had close contacts with certain nobles in the court.
Last night was also his 50th birthday, and many guests stayed at his home. These guests themselves were of extraordinary status. Some were wealthy businessmen, and some were officials in the court like him. If he let them go, it would take at least a hundred times more time to investigate them one by one. But keeping them all here and interrogating them one by one was obviously unrealistic.
These people were talking at the same time, making such a noise that it gave him a headache. Pei Zhe picked up the gavel and was about to ask them to be quiet when suddenly a hurried voice came from outside.
"Stop it, let me do it!"
The voice sounded familiar. Pei Zhe looked up and saw a familiar figure.
His heart sank. The place was already chaotic enough, and this young master came to add to the chaos. Wouldn't that just add to the chaos?
Although he was unhappy in his heart, he still kept a smile on his face. He came forward in person and said apologetically: "Sir, you can see that I am busy now. I will entertain you after I have investigated the case thoroughly..."
Li Nuo breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that. It was good that the case had not been solved yet.
He smiled and said, "Just investigate your case. I'll just watch from the side and won't disturb you."
Pei Zhe smiled apologetically, returned to his seat and continued to read the confessions of these people.
He wanted to follow Li Nuo's example and ask these people to write down everything that happened last night, no matter how big or small, both forward and reverse, so as to determine who was lying and identify the suspect. However, last night was the deceased's 50th birthday, and almost all the guests drank. Many of them were drunk and slept soundly all night. They could not remember what happened last night at all, let alone recount it in reverse.
Although that method is clever, it cannot be used in this case.
Li Nuo stood aside and saw the magistrate of Chang'an frowning. He asked, "What did Lord Pei find out?"
Pei Zhe shook his head and said, "I have been searching for a whole morning and found nothing."
Li Nuo thought about it and asked, "How about letting me try?"
Pei Zhe turned to look at Li Nuo, his eyes full of disbelief: "You?"
It's not that he looked down on Li Nuo, it's just that there were too many people involved in this case and there were no clues. He interrogated him for a whole morning but didn't find out anything.
Mr. Zheng usually built bridges and roads, gave out porridge as alms, and was kind to others. He had no enemies and was not even a suspect. How could we investigate this?
Pei Zhe felt that there was a slight possibility unless his father Li Xuanjing took action.
Li Nuo smiled slightly and said, "Since we can't find anything for a while, why don't you let me try?"
Pei Zhe asked, "How do you want to check, sir?"
Li Nuo actually doesn't know how to investigate cases, that's the job of the criminal police. As a judge, his duty is to judge. He also knows that in terms of intelligence, he is far inferior to Bao Zheng, Di Renjie, and Sherlock Holmes.
But he had the Code.
All he had to do was lock up everyone, write a verdict based on the crime of murder, and observe whether the person's portrait appeared in the code and whether his lifespan had increased. He would then know whether he was the real murderer. With so many people, it would be nothing more than a matter of words.
If the murderer is among these people, he will be found out sooner or later.
It was just that it was hard to explain afterwards. He couldn't let anyone see him when he wrote his name. Li Nuo looked at the magistrate of Chang'an County and said, "This is a mess. It's not a place for interrogation. Put them in jail first."
Pei Zhe raised his eyebrows and said, "Sir, this is not good. Most of these people are of extraordinary status. Some are even court officials. Although their ranks are not high, they are also real officials..."
Li Nuo took a look, estimated the number of people, and then said: "The court is too chaotic, the prison is quieter and more suitable for investigating the case. I promise to release them within two hours..."
The magistrate of Chang'an County thought about it, nodded slightly, picked up the gavel and knocked a few times, and the hall inside and outside gradually became quiet.
He cleared his throat and said, "I understand your feelings, but everyone present here is Mr. Zheng's friend. I believe you don't want to see the murderer who killed Mr. Zheng go unpunished. Please move to the prison for the time being. I promise that the interrogation will be over within two hours, and then you can all go back..."
As soon as the Chang'an County Magistrate said this, a small-scale commotion broke out in the court again.
Although there were still some grumblings and complaints, they reluctantly agreed with what the Chang'an County Magistrate said. After all, it was a murder case and they had already been waiting for the whole morning, so there was no harm in waiting for two more hours.
A quarter of an hour later.
Chang'an County Government, inside the prison.
This was the first time for Li Nuo to come here. He originally thought that ancient prisons were inevitably dirty and messy, but the prisons here changed his impression. Although the various torture instruments hanging on the wall were a bit scary, the prison was generally clean. Apart from being a little cold and damp, there was no unpleasant smell.
Last night, Mr. Zheng celebrated his birthday and entertained many guests. Some of them stayed overnight at the Zheng family's house because they were drunk. Including the servants of the Zheng family, the number of people involved in this case actually reached more than two hundred people.
In order to temporarily detain these people, the Chang'an County Magistrate set up five cells.
Among them, more than 20 officials occupied one cell, the female family members occupied one cell, and the rest were scattered in three other cells.
"You bastard!"
When Li Nuo passed by a cell, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
He turned his head and saw the female assassin staring at him viciously in a cell.
Li Nuo didn't have time to pay attention to her, his eyes were fixed on the "Code" floating in front of him.
At this moment, the portraits on the code increased from two pages to four pages.
Just now, when all these people were locked up in the cell, two more pages suddenly appeared in the code. One page was of a handsome man, and the other was of a young woman. The portrait of the woman was colorful and bright, just like the previous two pages, while the portrait of the man was dull black and white.
With a quick glance, he quickly found the two people in the portraits in the two cells.
He still underestimated this mysterious code. It turned out that there was no need for trial. As long as the murderers were put in jail, their portraits would appear on the code.
In this way, even writing can be saved.
However, his life span on the cover still has not increased. It should be that the number will change only after the verdict.
Although he had identified the murderer, he could not convict them out of thin air. The necessary procedures still had to be followed. Li Nuo sat down at a table in the prison and said to the Chang'an County Magistrate who was sitting next to him: "Master Pei, you can bring them over."
Among all those detained, the most important ones are of course the court officials. According to the law, officials above the seventh rank can be detained by the county government for a maximum of two hours. After two hours, they must either be released or transferred to the Ministry of Justice or the Dali Temple. Therefore, Pei Zhe asked someone to first escort out the middle-aged man with the highest official position.
The man with luxurious clothes and a big belly walked to the table, sat down with a big horse and a golden knife, and said without giving Pei Zhe any face, "Master Pei, if you have anything to say, please ask quickly. I have official business to go back."
Pei Zhe shook his head and said, "It's not me who wants to ask you, but this gentleman."
The official then realized that the person sitting in the main seat was actually a young man. He frowned, but did not get angry. Instead, he asked, "Who is this person? What is his official position and title?"
Although he was a sixth-rank official, two levels higher than the local county magistrate, this was Chang'an after all, where officials and dignitaries were everywhere, and there were too many people that a small sixth-rank official could not afford to offend.
The magistrate of Chang'an shook his head and said, "He has no official position or title."
Hearing this, the Dali Temple Secretary knew that he could get angry, and immediately said angrily: "No official position? How can you interrogate me without an official position? What's wrong with your Chang'an County Government? Can anyone interrogate an official appointed by the court...
As the Chief Justice of Dali Temple, a sixth-rank official of the imperial court, it was fine for the Chang'an County Magistrate to interrogate him. Although he looked down on the officials of the Chang'an County Yamen, after all, the official position of Pei was two levels higher than his, so it was not a loss of face.
The young man in front of me, apart from his handsome appearance, does not have the temperament of a superior. He is definitely not from a powerful family. He has no official position or title. How can he be qualified to judge him?
Facing the angry Dali Temple Secretary, the Chang'an County Magistrate said calmly, "He is the son of Lord Li."
"What's wrong with Lord Li's son? Can Lord Li's son break the rules of the court..."
Even though he was the son of the prime minister, he held no official position and was not qualified to interrogate the court officials. He was upright and had nothing to worry about. The Dali Temple Secretary was still angry and said something. He seemed to have thought of something, and his expression suddenly froze. He asked carefully, "Which... Lord Li?"
The Magistrate of Chang'an County smiled slightly and said, "Master Li Xuanjing, Master Zhang should be more familiar with him than I am, right?"
As Pei Zhe finished speaking, the Dali Temple Secretary's butt, which was sitting firmly, suddenly bounced up, and his chubby face was full of smiles. He ran to Li Nuo, humbly bent down, slapped his mouth, and said with a smile: "I am so blind that I didn't recognize you, young master. Please calm down, young master, please ask whatever you want to ask, and I will tell you everything I know..."
(End of this chapter)
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